How To Make Croutons At Home

 

Salads and soups are better with croutons, aren’t they? The crispiness and flavor of croutons make soups and salads taste so much better. If you want to learn how to make croutons at home, we have a simple but delicious homemade croutons recipe that will help you make crispy, golden brown, and flavorful croutons in approximately 30 minutes.

Why Make Croutons At Home?

Why would you make croutons at home when you can purchase them from the grocery store for less than $5?

First of all – homemade croutons taste so much better than the ones you purchase from the grocery store. Second of all, making croutons at home means saving money. You can always make as many croutons as you need so the leftovers will not go stale. That means no food waste either. Not to mention, you probably already have all the ingredients needed for homemade croutons so why not give it a try? Lastly, you can use different types of herbs and seasonings in homemade croutons so you can put your own spin on this staple snack.

How To Make Homemade Croutons Healthy

Another good thing about homemade croutons is that you can make them as healthy as you want them to be. Healthy croutons are harder to find in a grocery store but, at home, it’s just as easy to make them.

Generally speaking, to make croutons you need bread, butter, garlic, and parsley. The croutons you can purchase from the grocery store are usually made with white bread. However, at home, you can make them with any type of bread, including low-carb and gluten-free bread. Furthermore, you can ditch the butter and use olive oil instead. The homemade croutons will still taste good but they will be vegan too, which means great for those who are lactose-intolerant, vegan, or who want a healthy butter alternative.

How To Store Homemade Croutons

After you remove them from the oven, allow the croutons to cool and transfer them to an airtight container or a Ziplock bag. You want to store the homemade croutons at room temperature, in the fridge, or freeze them for later use.

How Long Do Homemade Croutons Last

Correctly stored, as described above, croutons last for three days at room temperature, for about five days in the fridge, and up to six weeks if you freeze them.

Homemade Croutons Recipe

Use this homemade croutons recipe as a guide to making delicious croutons at home. But don’t forget you can half the recipe or double it, depending on how many croutons you need. Also, you can use olive oil instead of butter (same quantity) and replace parsley with your favorite herbs. Similarly, you can use onion powder instead of garlic powder. You can easily adjust the recipe and make your taste buds happy.

Ingredients

• 12 slices of your bread of choice;
• 6 tablespoons of butter;
• 2 teaspoons of garlic powder;
• 2 teaspoons of dried parsley flakes;
• A pinch of salt.

Tools

• Saucepan;
• Spoon;
• Bread knife;
• Medium mixing bowl;
• Baking sheet.

Instructions

Start by preheating the oven to 300 degrees F.

Melt the butter in the saucepan.

Mix the melted butter with the garlic powder, salt, and dried parsley. Use a spoon to mix until the mixture is clump-free.

Cut the bread slices into cubes and place them in the mixing bowl.

Toss the butter over the bread cubes and make sure all the bread cubes are evenly coated with the butter mixture.

Place the bread cubes on a baking sheet in a single layer.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the bread cubes are crispy and golden brown.

Flip and bake for additional 15 minutes until the croutons are golden-brown and crispy on all sides.